"Then I'll go buy them. I'll put the remaining vegetables next to the stall. If someone wants to buy them, I'll sell them at a low price. If someone comes to buy meat, I'll give some away as a gift."
"good."
Zhang Fangyuan watched the man walk away before he withdrew his gaze. He shouted for a while, but it was almost noon in the city and there were no customers anymore. Those who delivered food to the butchers early came to the meat market with food boxes. Many butchers had already started eating.
The poultry market was quite far from here. Zhang Fangyuan saw that Xu He would not be back for a while, so he took their lunch and took it to the restaurant where he often ate, asking the chef to heat it up. He lifted his foot and headed toward the East Market.
"Brother Zhang! I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you here to look for me?"
Zhang Fangyuan had just entered the back door of Yunliang Pavilion when a heavily made-up woman with a sweet voice approached him like a water snake, fanning herself with a fan. Without even raising his eyelids, he pulled the woman away and asked, "Where is An Saner?"
The woman was pushed away and only grumbled. It seemed that she had long been accustomed to Zhang Fangyuan's rudeness. She changed her sweet voice and said, "An Saner, Brother Zhang is looking for you!"
Hearing the sound, a short man came out quickly. He looked shifty at first glance, but when he walked in, he turned out to be a smart guy.
"Brother Zhang, I haven't seen you since you left my job here. I don't know where you are now. What plans do you have for me today?"
Zhang Fangyuan pulled the people aside. Actually, he had no intention of coming to places like brothels again after he reformed himself, but he encountered difficulties in life and had to give in.
"Give me some of the stuff you used to hear people secretly selling under the overpass."
"ah?"
Zhang Fangyuan slapped the man on the head: "What? Hurry up, you came all the way here."
"Yes, yes, yes." An San'er covered his head, not daring to be rude to Zhang Fangyuan. He quickly unbuttoned his collar and suddenly opened his coat. There were no less than ten pockets sewn in three rows on the top and three rows on the bottom inside, and various books and pamphlets were stuffed inside. "Which one does Brother Zhang want?"
Zhang Fangyuan took a quick glance, touched his nose a little awkwardly, then reached out and picked up the cover, which looked very vivid.
"Is this useful?"
"It's very useful. The best-selling copy under the overpass is the one I have. Even that bitch, General Jiu Niang, asked me for a copy."
“…”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fangyuan threw the book back into An Saner's arms without even flipping through it. Even Jiu Niang could see it, so how could anyone else see it?
"Are there any little brothers?"
An San'er didn't know where he said the wrong thing, and hurriedly hugged the booklet thrown to him: "Brother Zhang has already said this."
"This is great, there are only two left." An Saner smiled obscenely and lowered his voice: "They are all pictures, they are the best sellers!"
Zhang Fangyuan took a look and felt a burning sensation on his ears. He hastily stuffed the booklet into his sleeve and took out some money to give to An Saner: "Just make do with it."
"If you like it, just take it. Why pay for it?"
An Saner was used to Zhang Fangyuan's arrogance when he was in charge of the building, when he would smash the table at every turn. Suddenly, he was flattered to see such a nice attitude and wanted to return the money as if it were hot.
"Just take it. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Let's go!"
After saying this, Zhang Fangyuan ignored An Saner's confused face and walked out of Yunliang Pavilion with big strides.
"Brother Zhang is being a little weird today."
The charming woman who was leaning on the railing in the distance sneered, "Is he ever not weird? After all, I am the top girl in Yunliang Pavilion. Which man wouldn't cling to me? But he avoids me like the plague. He looks strong, but he is probably not good."
"Nine Lady, you dare to say this behind Brother Zhang's back."
The woman rolled her eyes and said, "Go and sell your horny stuff."
When Xu He returned to the meat market with two pairs of chicks and two pairs of ducklings, Zhang Fangyuan was not at the stall. He settled the little things down and threw some wild vegetable leaves for them to eat. The little things were less noisy when they had food. He hesitated whether to go find Zhang Fangyuan, but he went back with the food box.
“Did you buy it back?”
Zhang Fangyuan took a look and saw two roosters, two hens, and a duck as well. The young man knew how to choose and matched them quite well.
"Why did you only buy these few? You can buy more."
Xu He said: "It's not worth buying too much. Wait until the chickens and ducks grow up and lay eggs and hatch them ourselves."
"That's a lot of trouble."
Xu He said: "I will take care of it when the time comes, so you won't have to worry about it."
The two of them opened the food boxes at the side. The aroma of the hot fried meat made the butcher next to them look back frequently. Although the dish was not as fresh and fragrant as when it was just out of the pot earlier, it still tasted good as they were hungry at this moment.
"I'll go heat up the food. Even the chef at the restaurant said you cook this dish really well. So why don't we just open a restaurant?"
Xu He still had some confidence in his craftsmanship. Even Liu Xianglan, who almost never said anything good about her in the Xu family, praised his craftsmanship once. However, Xu Shaochun was unhappy afterwards, so she didn't say anything more.
"Okay, then don't spend money recklessly on weekdays. Save some money early and we can open a shop and a restaurant."
Zhang Fangyuan had rice in his mouth. He looked at Xu He with a smile but said nothing.
Business at the stall is not very good in the afternoon, and how much meat is sold in a day almost depends on the morning market. Only three customers came throughout the afternoon. Xu He used a palm-leaf fan to gently drive away the flies that tried to fly over. The meat market had a strong fishy smell, which was even more irritating in summer.
Xu He looked at the hanging meat and couldn't help feeling a little worried. Mountain products were quite easy to sell, and Zhang Fangyuan also said that if Wang Ju delivered goods again in the future, he would still buy them, but when buying pork, he would try to choose fatter ones. On the contrary, thinner ones are not necessarily hard to sell every time. Sometimes the leaner ones are easier to sell, and sometimes the fatter ones are easier to sell. Business is not a stable job.
"I haven't sold any of this pig's offal today. I'm afraid I'll have to sell it at a lower price tomorrow, otherwise it might go bad."
Zhang Fangyuan was not as worried as Xu He: "I told you to pick more to eat. It won't be easy to sell if you keep more."
Xu He didn't respond to him.
There was really no business later in the evening, and considering that the little thing in the cage kept pooping, they decided to take it home and settle it down as soon as possible. So the couple simply packed up their stall early and went back to the village.
When the little thing was put in the backyard after returning home, it immediately ran around the yard happily. Zhang Fangyuan scattered a handful of crushed corn mixed with bran at the foot of the yard, and the chickens and ducks ran over to bury themselves in the pile to eat.
When Xu He was thinking about raising poultry, he made a fence out of bamboo strips, which made it easy to enclose the chickens and ducks. The weather has been good recently and it hasn't rained, so it's no problem for them to sleep in the backyard. He thought that when he had free time tomorrow, he would pick up some wooden boards and make a chicken coop, so that he wouldn't have to worry about wind and rain.
"You don't have to do it tomorrow. I'm good at these." Zhang Fangyuan took out a hammer from his tool shed. There were some wood in the yard, which was just right for making a chicken coop.
Xu He frowned and wiped his hands on the lapel around his waist. These things are indeed things that men are good at, but when he was at the Xu family, his father was always out to find work, and it was impossible to always wait for his father to come back to repair the chicken coop and pigpen when they were broken. He would be scolded if he did that for a long time. Every time his father was repairing it, he would go and watch. Over time, he learned how to do it himself and no longer needed to bother his father.
"Then I'll go cook."
There was no cold rice to eat in the evening, so he had to cook fresh rice and steam it. He served an extra bowl of rice so that he could eat it tonight and have some left over tomorrow morning to put in Zhang Fangyuan's lunch box.
Having just eaten meat at noon, he made a simple dinner, just a cold salad of leftover fern and a bowl of stir-fried dried cabbage he found in the cupboard, and that was almost it.
Hearing the clanging sounds outside the kitchen, Xu He turned around and took a look at the two pieces of smoked bacon hanging on the stove. He used a stool to prop his feet up, took down the bacon, cut a piece of pork belly three fingers wide, and soaked it in the rice washing water.
By the time Xu He finished cooking, Zhang Fangyuan had already pushed out the wooden boards for the chicken coop. They just needed to be put together and then made a roof.
"Let's eat."
Zhang Fangyuan had already smelled the aroma of fried dried cabbage, but he had not finished his work yet, so he did not rush in. When Xu He called him, he could not wait any longer.
"handwashing!"
Zhang Fangyuan had no choice but to wash his hands in disappointment.
Although there was no meat in the evening, Zhang Fangyuan still ate two big bowls of food. Xu He's cold dishes were very delicious. The green onions, ginger, garlic and chilies were chopped and served with a little soy sauce. The bracken was crispy and tender, with a slightly bitter taste, which was very suitable for eating in hot weather.
"I won't go to the city with you to set up a stall tomorrow."
"Why?!" Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help but stop eating with his chopsticks when he heard that.
Xu He said, "It's not necessary for two people to guard the stall. I will go up the mountain to find some fresh wild vegetables tomorrow, and then I will go to the city with you the day after tomorrow."
Zhang Fangyuan stopped making a fuss after hearing this: "Okay then."
After the two of them finished their meal, Zhang Fangyuan hurried to make the chicken coop. Xu He washed the dishes, cleaned the kitchen and boiled water. After finishing all these, he went to help Zhang Fangyuan make the chicken coop. The two of them moved the things to the central hall and worked silently.
It was not until the end of the Xu hour that the work was finished. Zhang Fangyuan stretched his arms and looked at the finished chicken coop with satisfaction. It would not take much effort for Xu He to install it tomorrow. He stood up and pinched Xu He's ear: "Wash up and go to bed."
He came closer and whispered something in Xu He's ear. Xu He's ears felt hot and he stood up with a stiff body.
…………You can escape the first day but not the fifteenth.
He took a shower silently and didn't say he would do laundry today. He went to bed early and waited for Zhang Fangyuan to come in after taking a shower.
Zhang Fangyuan was still wearing the shorts when he returned to the room. Under Xu He's gaze, he did not go back to bed immediately, but squatted in front of the cabinet to get something. When someone came over, Xu He saw clearly that it was a booklet.
"I bought it specially."
Zhang Fangyuan sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the young man lying on the bed obediently. He stretched out his arms, put them around the man's shoulders, and let him lean against his chest, so that the two of them could look at the same line of sight and read the book together.
Xu He had no idea what he was up to and thought that he was serious when he said he wanted to teach him how to read. But when he opened the booklet, his face immediately felt hot from the ears to the ears.
He was already ashamed to face others for doing such a thing. Now, looking at the vivid picture on the paper of what the two of them did after blowing out the lights, the excitement was infinitely magnified, making him dare not look directly at it.
"You...you read it all?"
Zhang Fangyuan lowered his eyes and saw Xu He's red ears. His hands suddenly froze, making him feel a little embarrassed: "No."
"oh."
The two of them were flipping through the pages of the book, but their minds were distracted and their faces were flushed. Halfway through, Zhang Fangyuan was so hot that he couldn't help but drop the book.
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